SAN DIEGO — Time is running out for Californians to apply for emergency rental assistance if they're behind on rent, due to pandemic-related financial hardship.
While evictions could begin next month in areas without protections, the city of San Diego still has an eviction moratorium in place, and there's now a move to try to expand those protections even further
"I'm one step away from homelessness," said Jenise Dixon, one of thousands of Californians hit hard financially by the pandemic.
Dixon has applied for emergency rental assistance through the state, but is still waiting for a response
"I'm just asking the people at the top, the lawmakers to give the system a chance to catch up so people like me don't fall through the cracks," Dixon pleaded.
California's emergency rental assistance program on a statewide level is set to expire on March 31, which is the final day renters can apply for help.
Unless a city or county has additional protections in place, landlords will be able to start filing eviction notices on April 1 for tenants behind on rent due to hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The non-profit group, Housing Now is calling on Sacramento to push that deadline to the end of August.
"We are here to say we must extend the emergency rental assistance program and the eviction protections," said Pastor Cue Jn-Marie of the Church Without Walls, a member of Housing Now.
In the city of San Diego, an eviction moratorium will remain in place beyond April 1, protecting tenants who are unable to pay rent due to pandemic-related hardship.
That is little comfort, however, to Linda Vista resident Imhotep Mustaqeem, who said his landlord is threatening to evict him in order to make renovation: a so-called "no-fault" eviction that, at this point, is allowed even though he is paid up on his rent.
"He still wants me out," he told CBS 8. "He 's trying to force me out."
Mustaqeem, the father of two young kids, is encouraged by a new proposal by San Diego City Council's president Sean Elo-Rivera to pass a "no-fault" eviction moratorium, which would last 60 days past the end of the COVID State of Emergency declared by Governor Newsom.
This would protect renters from a landlord trying to evict a tenant, for example, in order to re-model or have a relative move in.
"This is highly important, because we're not the only family in this situation," Mustaqeem added "It is very scary to have to face homelessness with small children."
The San Diego City Council is expected to vote on this proposal for a 'no-fault' eviction moratorium on April 4.
For more information on the state's emergency rental assistance program, click here.
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